Prosecuting Attorney Kelden Waltjen announced that 42 yearold Elijah Stutes of Mountain View was arrested and charged as part of Operation Keiki Shield (“OKS”) in Hilo.

Stutes was charged with Electronic Enticement of a Child in the First Degree and Resisting Arrest.

Electronic Enticement of a Child in the First Degree is a Class B felony offense which carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison.

Resisting Arrest is a misdemeanor offense which carries a maximum penalty of a one-year jail term.

Operation Keiki Shield is a collaborative law enforcement initiative focused on identifying and arresting offenders who commit internet-facilitated sex crimes against minors and rescuing victims of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The OKS Task Force included members of numerous law enforcement agencies, including the Hawai‘i County Police Department (“HPD”), Hawai‘i County Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, Department of the Attorney General’s Special Investigation and Prosecution Unit and Internet Crimes Against Children’s (“ICAC”) Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Secret Service, Honolulu Police Department, and the Maui Police Department. The operation was coordinated by Lieutenant Robert Pauole. HPD officers from the Area I Criminal Investigation Section, Crime Reduction Unit, Community Policing, and Vice Unit and the Area II Juvenile Aid Section also assisted in the operation.

The investigation was handled by Detective Richard Itliong of HPD’s Area I Juvenile Aid Section. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys Patrick Muñoz and Woodrow Pengelly, Hawai‘i County Office of the Prosecuting Attorney.

The charges are merely allegations and the Defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty

 

Photo credit: Hawaiʻi County Prosecuting Attorney